Kansas

We’re not in Kansas anymore—oh, wait. If you see great expanses of plains and farms stretching infinitely into the horizon, you probably are in Kansas. But the “Heart of America” isn’t all flat prairies and croplands. The tree-covered hills of Eastern Kansas and the eroded mountains of the Ozarks shatter any Kansas stereotypes. Metropolitan Kansas City bursts with barbeque joints, jazz clubs and spouting fountains, while university-town Lawrence is home to best art, music and nightlife scenes around. Relive the anti-slavery struggles that shaped the state’s evolution at Fort Scott, and the epic journey that shaped the American West along the Lewis & Clark National Historical Trail. And, of course, if you do want to add fodder to those Kansas visions, there’s always the living grasslands of Flint Hills. Or better yet, the recreated Dorothy’s House in Liberal. But don’t worry—no tornado will take you away from Kansas.